10 arrested after 4-month drug investigation

Ten
people have been arrested following an early morning round up of suspected
drug traffickers Thursday by Kentucky State Police and the Gallatin County
Sheriff's Department.

KSP
Trooper Brad Arterburn says the round ups are conducted every few months in an
effort to control the growing drug problem.

"The heroin is making a
comeback because pills are getting harder to get and more expensive to
buy," said Arterburn.

Arterburn
says heroin is just part of the problem.

"We still have meth labs all over
the place. Of course you have marijuana, the synthetic drugs now so it's a
never ending battle of things we have to face," he said.

Before
the sun came up, troopers and deputies met at the Gallatin County courthouse
to discuss who they're going after.

"We had arrest warrants
on 14 people for various charges….most of them for trafficking in pills…some of
them for trafficking in heroin," said Arterburn.

Troopers
and deputies split up into four teams and move out under cover of darkness. The
first stop for team number four is a secluded trailer, the home of Joshua Estep, who was arrested without incident.

Estep
is charged with drug trafficking and marijuana possession.

The
next two suspects on team number four's warrant list aren't home, but
Arterburn says every arrest makes a difference.

"We're out here. We're
fighting this problem. We know that drugs are a problem in our communities," he said. "It's not going away, but we are out here everyday working to make things
better. We're not going to stop looking for the people that are selling it.
We're not going to stop looking for people that are using it. We are going to
find you and we're going to put you in jail."

Of the original 14 indictment warrants, four individuals have not been located. Everyone arrested was lodged at the Carroll County Detention Center.